Heart that will not let itself belong,
I speak from you, to you,
not to distract you away
from the ways you suffer,
but to redeem you in your suffering.
Be in it, since you must.
Let it be there, since it is.
I cannot help but be here, where you are,
but there are countless ways you can evade,
escape, exaggerate, distort, transport yourself
elsewhere. You’ve done it before,
you’ve done it today, this hour.
In this minute be with the pain
without naming it,
possess it by letting yourself belong
to it. Allow it, give it room to breathe,
as you sit in this room
and listen to the voice of your longing
grow louder.
Heart that will not let itself belong,
let your resistance persist,
allow yourself to feel
your struggle to allow yourself
to belong
here, or anywhere.
Anywhere else,
the heart sings in its refrain.
Anywhere but here.
Take me away,
give me the sharp fleeting pain
of parting,
take from me the dull continual suffering
of this settled state.
Restless heart, I speak to you,
and as always I speak from you.
Where can you go
where what you feel now
will not go with you?
Heart that will not let itself belong,
that longs without cease, listen
as the voice of your longing grows
deafening. It is a commanding voice.
Another voice speaks
in silence;
it does not command.
Listen: is this the voice
that will let you belong?
Drink in this silence as the earth
drinks in the summer rains.
Brian Leibold 